Forever and Always
by Shaley-Humdinger-the-3rd
Summary: "She hated muggles. And mudbloods. Usually she relished in their screams. But he was...different...special..." What happened years ago when our favorite female Death Eater met the Light? Well, let's just say it's about to catch up with her...
1. Prologue

**HEY! I know I'm not the _best_ updater, but I fully plan to be with this story because...DRUM ROLL PLEASE!...It is my first full length story with an actual plot! TA-DAA! It is my baby and I fully intend to see it grow. As for any questions you may have I fully intend to cannon, though I may rearrange things to fit the plot. All characters, pairings, and most events will stay the same.**

**SO! to get it over with I do NOT own HP, Warner Bros., J.K. Rowling, it's affiliates, etc., etc...**

**BORN ON THE DAY BEFORE THE END...I GIVE YOU..._Forever and Always_**

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_November 4__th__, 1981:_

The hooded figure quickly and silently made her way down the street of Earlsdon Avenue. It was nighttime, but even so you could still make out the dark, looming clouds that threatened to pour rain. In her arms was a child, about a year or two old, bundled in a warm blanket, oblivious to the danger she was in and the sacrifice her mother was about to make. The hooded figure turned into a new neighborhood and stopped. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, continuing on to the third house on the right, the only house with lights on.

As she stopped by the gate, she closed her eyes again, praying that somehow this could all be avoided, by some strange miracle. With that final thought she pushed her way to the front door and knocked, counting the seconds that passed by. When the child whimpered she bounced her a little bit to calm her down and she fell right back to sleep. She heard quickened footsteps through the house as a man with brown hair and blue eyes opened the door. _He looks like Hugo,_ the woman thought.

The man's eyes were clouded with confusion and annoyance at why a person would be bothering him at this time of night when he noticed the bundle. "Is this her?" he asked. The woman nodded. "Jean!" he yelled into the house. The man's wife appeared at the door.

"Mark? What is it?" she started to say but stopped as she saw the figure. Her eyes -Jean's- turned from curiosity to pity and sympathy as she acknowledged the woman's presence.

"So this is-?"

"Calliope. Yes," the figure spoke, her voice thick.

The child moved in her arms slightly as though she knew her mother was talking. The three adults stood in silence as the child opened her eyes.

"She has my brother's eyes?" Mark asked. The figure could only nod. Then his wife realized something.

"If… If you're bringing her to us, like we planned in case of- _He's_ planning something, isn't He?"

At this the hooded figure looked up, her pale face pronounced in the door light.

"What? Have you not heard?" she asked surprised. Even muggles should have had some indication to _His_ fall, especially a man who's own brother was killed by _His_ followers.

"Heard what?" mark asked. "We've noticed several owls…and people in cloaks. There was even a story on the news about shooting stars-_In the daytime!_"

The figure nodded, "Yes! He's gone! Defeated! Gone!"

"Then- why are you here?" Jean asked gently.

The figure lowered her head again. "His followers are angry. They want revenge. I fear my 'Husband'" She spat the word fiercely, "Will do something not only foolish but illegal. He may try – no – he _will_ force me to help him." She swallowed hard. "He is also getting - suspicious – about Calliope's true paternity. If he were to find out-"She took a shuddering breath, "If anything were to happen to me, I'd feel better if she were with someone I trusted than with some Ministry buffoon." She rushed to get this all out as her voice was getting more choked. Mark nodded solemnly while Johanna's eyes were filled with tears.

The figure held out the child and Johanna accepted her. During this exchange their eyes locked –Black to Blue- and a silent agreement passed between them. Jean cradled the girl as her mother stepped back into the shadows. From her pocket she withdrew a chain and held it out for Mark to take. In his hand was a beautiful heart shaped locket on a silver chain. "So she'll remember me and her father," the figure whispered.

Mark put it around the child's neck and tried to open it. When he couldn't he looked at the figure for an explanation. "Only she will be able to open it; when she's older. When she learns how, she will know who we are. _Who I am,_" She added in a whisper.

The figure reached out tentatively to stroke her daughter's cheek for what may be the last time, her eyes filled with pride and love and sadness. Then she slowly raised her head and took off her hood. Her features were now more pronounced than before-Her eyes cold and tear filled, her face tear streaked and pale as well as cautious and worried, her hair was wildly skewed about her face. She looked positively menacing in the half light as she spoke in the most deathly, stern voice she could muster,

"When I return, when I see her again, if I find she's been _abused_ or _mistreated_, I will not hesitate to kill you."

Mark's face was impassive as Jean could only nod. The figure lifted her hood back up and took out a slender stick from her pocket. Mark eyed it warily as he remembered what was to happen next.

"You have the background papers, right? So if any questions are asked you'll be able to, without a doubt, say she is your daughter?" Mark nodded. "Very well then. Like we discussed." Mark and Jean looked straight at the wand, wide eyed and a bit frightened.

"_Obliviate," _she whispered.

As the couple's eyes became distant and cloudy the figure turned on her heals and ran from the door, out the gate, up the street and around the corner, where a small sob could be heard before a resonating _Crack!_ In the neighborhood. When she returned home that night, her husband was in the parlor, discussing plans with his brother and his best friend.

Bellatrix Lestrange was arrested two nights later for crimes she did not commit.

She never saw Calliope again…

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**Hey. wanna know something? that blue button right there? that one that says review? It's just DYING to be clicked.**


	2. Chapter 1: 11 years later

**Next chapter.**

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**Chapter one: 11 years later**

Hermione Granger was eagerly packing her trunk. Any moment now her father would return home from work and then he, her mother, and herself would be on their way to Diagon Alley where Hermione would meet her best friend, Ronald Weasley. Her friend Harry was expected to be there too, but Hermione was a bit frustrated with him at the moment. Ron had written her when he got back from Egypt, (She had been _so_ jealous! The Ancient Egyptians were always fascinating!), Telling her about Harry's – _blow-up_ – at his aunt and uncle's house that summer. She definitely wanted Harry's explanation.

Ron had also sent some newspaper clippings as well: One of his family posing by a pyramid, advertising how they had won the ministry contest; and another of two prisoners that had escaped from Azkaban, the wizard prison. On one half of the clipping it had a profile of Sirius Black: Notorious Mass Murderer of 13 muggles and informant to You-Know-Who. He looked stark raving mad. _He probably is,_ Hermione thought. On the other half of the clipping was a woman prisoner. If anybody else looked more deranged than Black it was probably his cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange. She looked as if she were shouting something, pleading to the guards to let her go. She had been given a harsher sentence than Black; she was _His_ best lieutenant and had tortured two of the best aurors into madness. Hermione didn't know who the aurors were, the _Prophet_ had kept it confidential to respect the family's wishes, but she felt sorry for their family just the same.

Hermione laid back on her bed and started to fiddle with her locket. She had always had it for as long as she could remember. Every time she'd ask her mother about it she'd get the same answer:"_You have it because we always wanted you to know that your parents loved you, No matter what."_ It was a very pretty locket, but she could never open it, and her parents had forgotten what was placed in there in the first place! But it was special. To Hermione, the locket felt like a safeguard, that's why she never took it off. She shivered at the thought of knowing her parents but them not remembering her at all. She hoped that Lestrange was caught soon and given the proper punishment she deserved. It made her nervous just thinking about it; she felt silly.

_Stop it Hermione, two highly dangerous mass murderers are on the loose; OF COURSE you're going to be nervous,_ she thought. _But still…_

She sat up when she heard the front door open and close.

"Hermione! Are you ready, Darling?" her father called up the stairs.

"Coming dad!" she yelled back stuffing the locket down her shirt and grabbing her trunk off the floor. As she turned back to look at her room one last time for the summer, she chuckled quietly at her foolishness. After all, Hogwarts is the safest place in the world. _What am I worried about?_

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**Review? thoughts? guesses? It should be painfully obvius where this is going.**


	3. Chapter 15 and a half:FouryearsEarlier

**In betweener**

**DISCLAIMER: me no own D:**

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**Chapter -1.5 and a half: 4 years earlier**

**~~O~~**

Night. It was the worst. When everyone would sleep, dream, get their souls sucked.

She hated it.

What's worse, it wasn't her fault she was in here.

It was _His_ fault. _His_ stupid idea.

_Such an idea…_

She didn't want to go along. She pleaded with him to not make her go. He laughed scornfully in her face, and told her if she didn't, "Their" daughter was as good as dead. The sick bastard and his "friends" were too drunk to realize "Their" daughter wasn't there at all.

She should have stuck up better, been stronger.

_Why wasn't I stronger?_

She can hear her cousin howling in the cell next to hers. The poor sap had been caught days before she was. He'd been put away for selling out his best mate to the _Dark-_ no – _to Him_, and for killing _13 muggles_.

She might've expected it from young Reggie, but not from_ Siri._

Now all he did was mumble to himself. _"He's at Hogwarts, He's at Hogwarts…"_

_Hogwarts…_

That made her think of…

No. _She isn't Calliope anymore, Bella. She's not yours._

She often thought about her daughter (_No, she's not your daughter…)_, Most often at night.

She'd think about the house she was in (_Ravenclaw…like her dad maybe? Perhaps…Slytherin?)_, what her best subject would be (_Potions? Or maybe transfiguration? Hugo was always good…)_, and her friends (M_aybe she's met Cissy's boy what's his name Droll? Dudley? Draco? No not Draco, that's a stupid name.)_

She was after all Hogwarts age, eleven maybe twelve, at Hogwarts, _her daughter…_

"NO BELLA! She's Not Your Daughter Anymore!" she screamed.

"_SHUT UP LESTRANGE!"_

"_KEEL OVER AND DIE HAG!"_

"_GO TO BED WH*RE!"_

Night. It was the worst. People would sleep. Sleeping lead to dreams. Dreams lead to unimaginable torture.

This is why Bellatrix Lestrange never slept.

She just mumbled her thoughts aloud to herself and she wept, thinking no one would ever hear her.

~~O~~

Fortunately for Bella, someone was…

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**Ooh! who's keeping an ear out for Bella? Remember: Reviews are not necessary, but appreciated.**

**Who am I kidding?**

**REVIEW TILL YOUR FINGERS BLEED!**


	4. Chapter 2: At the Leaky

**DISCLAIMER: Me no own HP :( **

**Shout out to: **obsessivegirl73, Ansa88, Darkshadow-lord, Tainted flare.** The AWESOME first reviewers to this story. **

**Redvines for you all!**

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**Chapter 2: At the Leaky:**

The ride to the Leaky Cauldron was not a quiet one. Hermione prattled on about what books she had read and what subjects she had signed up for next year and about the letter she got from Ron about his trip to Egypt.

"And he says the tombs were full of, as he put it, 'Weird old stuff.' I'm kinda jealous of him, the ancient Egyptians are so fascinating!"

"So are you saying you didn't like France?" teased her mother, Jean.

Hermione's eyes widened. "Did I make it sound like that? I'm sorry mum! I loved France! I can't wait to go back there someday!"

Her father, Mark, chuckled. "Hermione, I think your mother was just teasing."

"Oh." She blushed.

"Well dear if you're that adamant about it perhaps someday we can take a trip to Egypt." Jean replied.

"Wicked!" she cheered.

The car turned down another street and stopped outside a building. Now to most people, like her parents, the building would just look like an ordinary building and the person looking would walk by without another thought. But, if you possessed the predisposition like Hermione, you would be able to see the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron: Famous pub and secret entrance to the amazing wonders that was Diagon Alley, which had dozens of stores for all your odds and ends of being a wizard.

Hermione and her parents got her school trunk out the boot of the car and stepped into the Leaky. Hermione scanned the pub for any sign of redhead that was there. She grinned as she saw exactly who she was looking for.

"RON!" she called over the din of the customers.

The redhead looked up, saw his best friend and then hastened to meet her.

"Hermione!" he hugged her. "Blimey it's good to see you!"

"Oh it's so good to see you! Is your entire family here?"

"Yeah. Mum and dad are getting the room assignments right now, so we'll all probably be sharing; you most likely with Ginny."

Hermione nodded. She knew Ginny from Gryffindor house but ever since last year with the attacks (She shivered at the thought) and the opening of the Chamber (she shivered again), she didn't get to know Ginny that well. She tried to on the train ride home last year, but whenever she tried to engage a conversation Ginny would shy off and remain quiet. Hermione guessed that she felt guilty about what she had done the entire year.

"That's fine. Ron you remember my parents, yeah?" she asked, coming back to earth.

Immediately Ron's ears got red and he stuck out his hand for introductions.

"Er - right! Hello, Mr. Granger, Mrs. Granger." He said shaking each of their hands.

"Hello Ronald. Expecting a good term this year?" Mrs. Granger asked.

"Yeah, hopefully a quiet one." He said.

"Ron!" he turned in the direction his name was called and saw his parents coming up to them.

From what Hermione could gather from her previous, short encounters with the Weasley parents, she had determined that they were kind people with lots of love to go around but not afraid to stand up for what is right **(AN: I know it may sound cheesy but I was stuck. Sue me!).**

"Ron, we've decided the rooms so here's your key and when you see Percy tell him to come get his," his mother told him. Ron's sudden look of horror made Hermione stifle a giggle. Percy may not have been the most popular of his brothers, but he made logical conversations that Hermione thought were stimulating.

Mrs. Weasley turned away from Ron and noticed Hermione was standing there.

"Hermione! Good to see you!"

"Good to see you Mrs. Weasley, Mr. Weasley." She said shaking their hands.

"I'm sure Ron told you about the sleeping arrangements, yes? Good. You'll be sharing with Ginny and I think she's already up there. Ron would you show her?" Mrs. Weasley asked of her son.

"Yeah, sure. Do you need any help with your trunk?"

This caught Hermione by surprise only for a second. "Ah-Sure Ron." She said uncertainly.

"Ok. Follow me."

"We'll be here talking to Ron's parents, dear," She heard her dad call after her. Hermione turned her head slightly to see Mr. Weasley wringing her father's hand eagerly and no doubt asking him about muggles.

She and Ron went up the stairs to the second floor where Ron stopped in front of a door and knocked. When the door opened his sister Ginny looked as if she was already settled.

"Hey Ron. You need something?"

"No I'm just helping Hermione with her things." He replied.

"Hi Ginny."

Hermione noticed that as soon as her name was brought up Ginny's eyes widened slightly and her face paled a bit.

"O-Oh-Okay. S-S-Sure." And she stepped back from the doorway to let them in.

Ron set her trunk by the bed she would be sleeping in and turned to her.

"I think we better go save your parents from my dad. Who knows what he could have asked in the time we've been gone."

Hermione chuckled at the thought of the conversations they could be having.

"Alright. I'll be coming back up to unpack, Ginny. Are you sure it's ok with you if I stay here?"

"Y-Yeah. P-P-Perfectly fine." She stammered still pale.

As soon as she and Ron crossed the threshold she rounded on Ron.

"Is she okay? She seemed a bit nervous around me."

Ron nodded his head. "She's been like that for a while; nervous. After we got home from last term she had horrible nightmares that would wake everyone up. She barely left mum's side for the first few weeks."

Hermione nodded in understanding. "And I'm going to take a wild guess and say that she feels even more nervous now that she has to share a room with me because of what happened?" Though she would never admit it, she too had dreams about the horrible yellow eyes that she saw before she was petrified.

"Probably," Ron said just as they re-entered the pub part of the Leaky.

Hermione made a mental note to talk about this later with Ginny.

~O~O~

After bidding her parents good-bye and assuring them she would be safe (_"Yes I'll write…Yes I've got everything…Yes I'll stay out of trouble...")_, Hermione went back up to her room. She and Ron were going to go around Diagon Alley for their school supplies, but first, she had something to do first.

When she got to her room she knocked first just to make sure Ginny was decent and then opened the door. Ginny was reading a book and didn't hear her come in.

"What are you reading?" Ginny's head look up so fast you could've sworn she got whiplash.

"A-A muggle n-n-novel; _Little Women._" She stuttered.

Hermione smiled. "I love that book! What part are you at?"

Ginny didn't know what to say; she just opened and closed her mouth like a fish. Hermione decided that the talk was needed right now.

"Ginny, can I talk to you?" She nodded apprehensively, her face losing most of its color.

Hermione came and sat next to her on the bed, mind whirring for a way to approach this delicately.

"We-never really got to know each other last year because of…certain…events…" she started slowly, "So I was thinking we could start out fresh. What do you think?"

Ginny closed her book and looked down at her hands. Hermione waited patiently for her to respond.

"Why do you want to be friends with me? I did so many…_horrible_ things last year! I-I-I attacked the school's roosters, I-I set a monster loose in the castle, I-I-I attacked people! Colin..Nick," she took a breath, "You," she added quietly.

Hermione responded to this the only logical way she could think of: She hugged her. Ginny was completely taken aback at this sudden act of comfort.

When Hermione drew back she forced Ginny to look into her eyes.

"Listen. YOU did not do those things. Ginny Weasley, possessed by an evil man, did those things. Not the _Real_ Ginny Weasley, the one that's in this room right now. This Ginny Weasley tried to fight back, tried to with all the Gryffindor spirit she possessed. She was very strong, but the evil man was stronger. But, the important thing was she didn't give up until she couldn't possibly fight anymore. That Ginny Weasley is a very brave person, one that I would gladly call my friend." She finished.

Ginny sat there for a moment with eyes brimming with tears.

"This year is going to be so…hard." She sniffed in a small voice.

Hermione hugged her again, "Well, It's a good thing you won't be alone then."

And for the first time, Ginny hugged her back.

~O~O~

Hermione and Ron made their way around Diagon Alley slowly to keep an eye out for their missing friend. They first went to Gringotts to make withdrawals and then they went to Ollivander, for Ron was in need of a new wand. Willow, fourteen inches, containing unicorn hair; it shot red sparks out the end at the first wave. Then they went to Madam Malkin's, Flourish and Blotts (They were there for an hour), Quality Quidditch Supplies (Again: There for an hour), and finally ended up at Florean Fortesque's Ice Cream Parlor.

They were talking for a while when there was a loud crowing above them. The duo looked up to see a raven sitting on the shop's hanging sign.

"Just a bloody bird," Ron remarked.

Hermione looked at him reproachfully. "Don't use that language _Ronald,_" she emphasized his full name, "And that's not any bird; it's a Raven."

"Pretty ugly if you ask me."

"Well no one's asking you and I think it's gorgeous." But if Hermione was telling the truth, she would've said that she felt like the bird was scrutinizing her and watching her every move, like it knew her. _Don't be silly,_ she thought._ Birds can't think like that._

"Hey Hermione, look behind you and tell me if that's who I think it is," Ron suddenly asked.

While she was still thinking on the subject of raven thought capabilities Ron had located a raven haired boy that bared a striking resemblance to their missed friend.

"You know Ron I think that is!"

"**Harry! HARRY!" **he called.

Harry finally noticed their frantic waving and came over immediately.

"**Finally!" said Ron, grinning at Harry as he sat down. "We went to the Leaky Cauldron, but they said you'd left, and we went to Flourish and Blotts, and Madam Malkin's, and –" **

"**I got all my school stuff last week," Harry explained. "And how come you knew I'm staying at the Leaky Cauldron?"**

"**Dad," Ron said simply…**

~O~O~

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**OK! Kinda a filler. Let's recap shall we: This year, not one, but T W O prisoners have escaped Azkaban prison. Both are assumed to be mentally deranged, And, as we find out later, may be out to kill Harry. Bellatrix had given up her daughter to muggles, put in prison and is now crazy and thinks no one is watching her. Only someone is. Hermione is a bit anxious about the prisoners escaping, is eager to get back to Hogwarts, Made friends with Ginny, and thinks a bird, more specifically a Raven, is watching her. Is it? Who are these stalking people/animals? What's going to happen next? Who took my Redvines? What's the meaning of life?**

**And perhaps more importantly: WHY ARE THERE ALWAYS MORE BUNS BUT NEVER ENOUGH HOTDOGS?**

**Anywho, Who Saw DH PT 2? I'm not that prideful; I'll admit it; I cried. **

**Please review and if you know anything about the Hotdog buns please tell me because it plagues the very exisitance of my livelihood.**

**Till then,**

**S. Humdinger**


	5. Chapter 293: Two years Earlier

**Chapter -2.93: 2 Years earlier:**

Bellatrix was muttering again.

_Will she ever shut up?,_ thought her cousin, Sirius.

He rolled his eyes. Whenever he chanced to listen to the rare silences, she always ruined it. How it was _His_ fault, whoever "He" was, and about how "She" wasn't hers any more. He had other things to worry about; the bleedin' rat that left him here, how his godson was faring, and how he'd get his revenge once he was out; But he still couldn't help but feel curious about who the "He" and "She" was that caused him to never enjoy the silences.

He didn't know why, but today he was feeling a bit sentimental. So, in the nicest way he could muster, he called over to her:

"OY! LOONY! Some of us are _trying_ to sleep!"

The muttering stopped. Then it was replaced by a sound Sirius was sure he'd _NEVER_ hear come out of his cousin.

_Sobbing._

He chanced a look out his bars to look at his cousin. Sure enough, she was suffocating in her own tears looking defeated, broken, and tortured. Having grown up with the woman who used him for target practice during their Hogwarts years and knowing she would _NEVER_ cry because it was a sign of weakness, this was kind of terrifying. Sure, being a womanizer at Hogwarts when he was younger he knew how to handle crying girls. But Bella wasn't a girl; _she was his cousin!_ He didn't even know if she had regular female parts!

But she was crying, and he wasn't heartless, and his curiosity _was_ getting the better of him, so he decided to ask what was wrong.

"Er….Bella?"

The sobbing got louder. He tried again.

"Bella?"

She was literally crying to death. He got irritated.

"BELLA!"

Her head snapped up. "WHAT?"

He recoiled bit then said a bit more gently, "You ok?"

Bellatrix tilted her head to look at him and let out a harsh, humorless laugh.

"What do you care, _cousin_?" she spat.

He thought for a moment. "You're right. I don't care. Never mind."

_3…2...1..._

"How do you do it?" she barely whispered.

"Huh?"

"Stay sane. The others- myself- We're all going mad. We _are_ mad. H-how, Cousin?"

Sirius could only shrug. Truth was, if he wasn't an animagus, he'd probably be more mental than anyone in that Popsicle stand. Truth was, if it weren't for his godson and the Rat being out there, he'd probably have gone insane.

"I-I don't know," he said lamely.

Silence. And then…

"Who's 'She'?" he asked.

Bella froze. Her eyes had lost all focus and stared vacantly at his cell. But only for a moment, for she acquired a nasty sort of grin on her face as she said, "I don't know, _Cousin,_ Who's at Hogwarts?"

Sirius felt a hot surge of anger at her taunts. "I don't have to explain myself to you!"

"Nor I you!"

"Then stop talking!"

"FINE! I will!"

"Good!"

"GOOD!

"Fine!"

"FINE!"

Silence, Again.

_Crazy hag,_ he thought. _She won't understand._ He snorted at the very idea of Bella being sympathetic. _But…She's not going anywhere. It might be good to talk things with her,_ said a small voice in his head. Sirius often tried to ignore this small voice, but sometimes it got the better of him. Like now.

"My godson. My godson is at Hogwarts."

Bella looked up at him in surprise. "You still care about the kid?"

This irritated him because he knew where this was going. "Why would I _not_ care about him?" he asked tensely.

"Well, you did give away your best friends, his parents, to the Dark Lord."

"Preaches His 'Oh-So-Mighty-Loyal-And-Most-Faithful-One!'" he snapped angrily.

Bellatrix looked stormily at him. "Shut up."

"Why? Big Bad Bella won't stand up for her master?"

"SHUT up."

"What'cha gonna do, Bella? You're all the way over there! I'm all the way over here! You can't touch me. Not even as I remind you of the cold, heartless, cruel, Pureblood Obsessed, Never-Cared-For-Anyone, _Cow._ .Ar-"

"SHUT UP!" she screamed rattling the bars.

"For your information, _Cousin_, I, unlike _You,_ am innocent. I was framed! Peter was the secret keeper! We switched so that it'd be harder for _Him_ to find them! He faked his death! He's at Hogwarts as well! And one day I'm going to get out of here and find him. And I'll meet Harry. And I'll explain what has happened. Because I am Innocent."

"SO AM I!"

Sirius laughed a humorless laugh.

"You Bella? You're the complete opposite of the word!"

"I was…" she whispered. He noticed that she looked distant and sad again.

When she looked back at him, her eyes were sad and defeated, like they'd aged twenty years.

"You were gone for a long time, _Sirius._ You know nothing of what has happened to me."

Sirius looked more curious than ever at his cousin as he registered the use of his first name.

She went on.

"I got married-I think you knew that-to Rodolphus Lestrange. H-he told me about the Dark Lord, about his endeavors to create a world free from Mud-"She cringed here, "A…Pureblood world. I was still young, Foolish, Stupid, _Incredibly_ stupid. But I allowed him to coax me into it."

"And you were…?"

She shut her eyes painfully. "Branded. With the Mark at the second meeting. It hurt like hell, but I was so excited. I let my lust for power consume me."

"Bella. You killed people. _Innocent_ people."

"Don't you think I know that, _Cousin?_ You think I don't regret that now? _He_ ordered me to. If I didn't, I would have been killed. Simple as that."

"So what happened? What makes you so 'innocent?' "

Bella's eyes glossed over in remembrance.

"D'You know what happened to the Longbottoms?"

He nodded. "You helped torture them."

She sighed. "No I didn't."

"Bella. The aurors found the curse on your wand. You tortured them. Don't lie and say you didn't."

"I tortured Roddy. And Rabastian. To get them off the Longbottoms. Then it was I who contacted the other aurors to the house."

"You turned yourself in?" Sirius asked.

She nodded.

"Why?"

Bella went pale. She mumbled something inaudibly.

"What?"

"Calliope," she said a bit louder.

"Who's that? Another Death Eater?"

"No," she snapped. "My daughter."

Sirius's jaw literally dropped to the floor. In all his life he never, _never_, expected his cousin to like kids let alone have one of her own. I mean, to have kids that would mean Bella would've had to-

_AUGH! SIRIUS! STOP! BAD MENTAL IMAGES! _he thought

As he tried to wrap his head around this, Bella went on.

"I – I gave her up before we went on the mission for the Dark Lord. To her father's family. I wanted her to be in safe hands, not placed in some home where she'd be treated horribly just because her mother is who she is. I reckon she'd be at Hogwarts about now. First year."

Her voice was very monotone as she said this.

"Well then, where is she?"

"I-I left her with family so that she wouldn't grow up prejudiced, or hating who I was."

"Bella, I hate to point this out, but if you left her with our family, she _will_ grow up prejudiced."

"I didn't leave her with our family."

"Rod's Family?"

"No."

"Then who's?"

"Her Father's"

"But you just said-"

"I never said Rodolphus was her father."

Sirius opened his mouth to say something the closed it realizing what Bellatrix had said. Had Bella actually-?

"You had an affair?" he asked amused.

Bellatrix turned a bright red at this. "Wouldn't you? I mean, c'mon cousin! We both know he wouldn't be faithful so why should I?"

"And he wasn't suspicious?"

Of course he was. That's part of the reason why I had to take her away: to avoid suspicion and so Rod wouldn't do anything stupid."

"So where'd you leave her?"

"With her father's family."

"Which would be…?"

She mumbled something.

"What?"

She mumbled something a bit louder.

"Still didn't catch that."

"Muggles!" she shouted.

This sunk in, and then Sirius gave a harsh, manic laugh.

"You-You had an af-affair with a-a-a- A MUGGLE?" he wheezed.

"Muggleborn." She muttered.

"That's even better!" he chortled, "My cousin-my High-Horse, Mighty, Pureblood-obsessed cousin had an affair with a-a-a-!" he broke off into fits again.

"When you've finished," Bella scowled.

Sirius chanced a glance at his cousin and at her forlorn expression he started to breathe more but still had a smirk on his lips.

"So who was he? Do I know him?"

"Probably. He was in the Order. Hugo? Hugo Granger?"

That wiped the smirk off of Sirius's face, much to Bella's satisfaction.

"Hugo? That little bookworm Ravenclaw a few years ahead of me? _That_ Hugo? He was really brave, could've been in Gryffindor. How'd you meet him?"

Bellatrix's eyes glossed over once more.

_*Flashback*_

_She was in a tavern outside of Hogsmeade, contemplating this Voldemort guy. He was creepy, but he had power, the one thing Bella desired more than anything else in the world at age 25._

"_Can I get you another?" said a voice breaking her thoughts. On her right was a man with brown eyes and wavy, chin length hair. His smile was crooked and his nose looked like it had been broken once, but otherwise he was very handsome. His eyes were the most interesting of all. What was behind them? Curiosity?_

_She returned her gaze to her glass. "You're gonna have to try harder than that, buddy."_

_The man smirked. "Who said I had to try?" Bella rolled her eyes._

"_Can I at least sit down?" she shrugged, so he did._

"_So what brings you here?" he asked after awhile. Bella remained silent. _

"_Ex-Boyfriend? Break up? Family issues? Celebrating? Thinking? You can ignore me all you want I'm not going away anytime soon" he pestered._

"_I'm thinking," She growled._

"_Oh so you can talk?" he said cheerfully._

"_Go away."_

"_No."_

"_Why not?"_

"_I enjoy your company."_

_Bella snorted. She finally turned to get a better look at him. He did seem familiar._

"_Do I know you?"_

"_Probably not. You wouldn't have associated with my kind at Hogwarts."_

_Bella thought over this sentence. "You're a Mudblood?" she asked disgusted._

_He smiled, "Yep, and I'm damn proud of it. You're Bellatrix Black."_

_She glared at him, furious that a mudblood would call her by her full name._

"_I think this conversation is over," she told him getting up to go._

"_Well there's no need to be a witch about it! Blood's not important; all it's good for is keeping us alive," he told her._

_She glared at him and he mock glared right back. Why must all muggleborns be infuriating? He smirked and patted the seat next to him. She eyed him warily and then sat back down._

"_Well?"_

"_I was thinking."_

"_About?"_

"_Stuff."_

"_Oh. Cool." He nodded._

"_What are you doing here?" she scathed._

"_Well I am taking a break to get a drink after fighting with-"_

" _I mean why are you talking to me? You know my name, you know where I stand on blood status, so why?"_

"_I already told you: I like your company."_

"_You enjoy my company?" she repeated._

"_Yes. Do I have to say it again?"_

_Bella rolled his eyes. He frowned._

"_You know what? You're right. Why bother?" and he got up to leave._

_He was halfway near the door when Bella cried out "Wait!"_

_It was out of her mouth before she could stop it. He turned around and quirked an eyebrow. "Yes?"_

_Knowing she was going to regret it she asked him, "Why are you here?"_

"_Had a fight with my little brother and had to get away. If that's it," and he turned to leave once more._

"_Wait." He stopped and turned back around, a bit exasperate._

"_Yes?"_

"_What was the fight about?"_

"_If you must know it was about my role in the magical world we live in and the upcoming danger we're about to face," and he turned again._

"_Wait."_

"_What?" he half yelled._

"_What danger?"_

_This surprised him. "Well Black," Bella briefly registered the use of her maiden name,"I don't know where you've been but there's a war going on and as much as the ministry wants to deny it some snake-faced maniac is going to rise up and purge the world of muggleborns, then half-bloods, and then whoever else isn't in his circle. I for one want to prevent it from happening before it does."_

"_And that's a bad thing? Wanting to purify our race and keep magic out of filthy hands is a bad thing?"_

_He growled. "Are you stupid or has generations of inbreeding gone to your head?"_

_Bella stood up enraged, "You dare-!"_

"_Yes I do! That's the thing with you purebloods! You're so stuck up in purity of blood and aristocracy that you don't give a rats arse about what could happen if you mated with an extraordinarily bright muggleborns and produce a brilliantly talented witch or wizard instead of mating with cousins and get a child with magic equivalent to that of a troll, Probably what your kids are gonna end up being!"_

_Bang! Bella had had enough from this guy when she drew her wand to hex him. He stood up from where he was blasted and looked at her with scorn and…pity?_

_He shook his head. "I can see I've gotten nowhere. Nice chatting with you, Miss Black." And he got up and walked away. _

_Bella sat down, infuriated. How dare He! Criticizing what she believed! Filling her head with his Mudblood ways! So what if her cousin __**was**__ part troll or-or her great uncle could barely form a sentence or-or-or—_

_She slumped back against her chair. That man had a point. Bugger. And she didn't know his name. Double Bugger. But he knew hers…or at least part of it. _How **did** he know my name?_she thought. More importantly, why hadn't she bothered to correct him? She hated muggles. And mudbloods. Usually she relished in their screams. But he was...different...special. **Why?** She kept thinking and thinking and then she mad up her mind. She left a couple galleons on the table and ran after him._

_She was halfway up the alley when she saw his head of wavy brown hair. Since calling out "Hey Mudblood!" would be a bit too vague and offensive to call in Hogsmeade she ran all the way up to him and tapped him on his shoulder. He turned around and smirked that damn smirk she hated._

"_Yes?" he inquired._

"_Two things: Number one, It's Lestrange, not Black, I'm married."_

"_My apologies."_

"_Tell me about it. Number two, I don't agree with you. At. All. But I want to know more. Tell me."_

_He put on a thinking face and then said "Fine."_

"_One more thing; You said you'd buy me another."_

_He smiled a genuine smile. "So I did." And they walked back to the pub._

"_By the way, How do you know my name?" she asked him._

"_Honestly it wasn't that hard to not notice you at Hogwarts. It wasn't hard to notice any of the Blacks."_

"_Mhm," she replied feeling a bit proud. "And you, what do they call you?"_

"_Hugo. Hugo Granger."_

_*End of Flashback*_

"So you met him in a pub?" asked Sirius.

"Yep."

"You didn't totally ignore him at first?"

"Nope."

"So what happened?"

Bellatrix sighed. "He told me some stuff about the light side, and it kind of appealed to me. But I was still power hungry."

"What happened after the bar?"

"We went our separate ways. We met up a few times, the war broke out and every now and then we'd see each other on the opposite sides, fighting for different things. And then one winter night by pure chance we met each other in the pub again and just…had at it. I became pregnant after that and convinced Roddy it was his and the next time I saw Hugo-he died. Killed. By Dolohov."

Sirius shuddered. He heard about what the death eaters had done to the Prewett brothers and what their fate was. It was grizzly to put it mildly.

"So did you tell him?"

Bella could feel tears come up in her eyes. "No. I never got the chance. I did however manage to track down his brother and after some intense convincing we came up with the plan if I was ever taken to Azkaban or in danger of being taken."

Sirius sighed. His cousin looked really depressed. He was probably going to regret what he was about to ask, but…

"Bella?"

"Yes?"

"How much do you want to see your daughter again?"

"I would take the dementor's kiss if it meant I got to hold her one last time."

Sirius groaned slightly. She was serious about this.

"Bella, If we escaped, would you be willing to do exactly what I tell you."

Bellatrix eyed him warily. "Perhaps. _If _we ever got out of here."

"I mean it Bellatrix. I'm not taking you with me if you don't follow exactly what I say."

She was curious now."What are you planning?"

It took Sirius six months to learn how to be an animagus _with _a wand. He reckoned it be damn near impossible to teach Bella _without_ a wand. But he had to try.

"Bella, What do you know about Animaguses?"

**~O~O~**

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**AN: I know I'm really late. A month by golly. I'm in Highschool, I'm taking AP World history and Pyschology as well as all honors classes. School started for me on August 1st. I barely have time to sleep and I'm barely passing math.I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I'm going to try to be quicker about the next one. Sorry. But hey, at least you know about Hugo now. What's going to happen next? Will Sirius succeed in teaching Bella to become an Animagus? How is Hermione's third year going to be? Should I be in bed right now? Probably. It's 11:00.**

**Till next time and please review,**

**-S. Humdinger.**


	6. Chapter 3: Meanwhile at Diagon Ally

**Here's a little note for some bolded words: They belong to the Queen Rowling, not me. I am just a lowly Hufflepuff that should feel terrible for manipulating the Queen's words. **

**Anyway, I don't own HP**

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**Chapter 3: Meanwhile, in Diagon Alley…**

"**Did you **_**really**_** blow up your aunt, Harry?" said Hermione in a serious voice.**

"**I didn't mean to," said Harry, while Ron roared with laughter. **

"**I just – lost control."**

"**It's not funny, Ron," said Hermione sharply. "Honestly, I'm amazed Harry wasn't expelled."**

"**So am I," admitted Harry. "Forget expelled, I thought I was going to be arrested." He looked at Ron. "Your dad doesn't know why Fudge let me off, does he?"**

"**Probably 'cause it's you, isn't it?" shrugged Ron, still chuckling. "Famous Harry Potter and all that. I'd hate to see what the Ministry'd do to me if I blew up an aunt. Mind you, they'd have to dig me up first, because Mum would've killed me. Anyway, you can ask Dad yourself this evening. We're staying at the Leaky Cauldron tonight too! So you can come to King's Cross with us tomorrow! Hermione's there as well!"**

**Hermione nodded, beaming. "Mum and Dad dropped me off this morning with all my Hogwarts things."**

"**Excellent!" said Harry happily. "So, have you got all your new books and stuff?"**

"**Look at this," said Ron, pulling a long thin box out of a bag and opening it. "Brand-new wand. Fourteen inches, willow, containing one unicorn tail-hair. And we've got all our books —" He pointed at a large bag under his chair. "What about those Monster Books, eh? The assistant nearly cried when we said we wanted two."**

"**What's all that, Hermione?" Harry asked, pointing at not one but three bulging bags in the chair next to her.**

"**Well, I'm taking more new subjects than you, aren't I," said Hermione. "Those are my books for Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, the Study of Ancient Runes, Muggle Studies —"**

"**What are you doing Muggle Studies for?" said Ron, rolling his eyes at Harry. "You're Muggle-born! Your mum and dad are Muggles! You already know all about Muggles!"**

"**But it'll be fascinating to study them from the wizarding point of view," said Hermione earnestly.**

"**Are you planning to eat or sleep at all this year, Hermione?" asked Harry, while Ron sniggered. Hermione ignored them.**

"**I've still got ten Galleons," she said, checking her purse. "It's my birthday in September, and Mum and Dad gave me some money to get myself an early birthday present."**

"**How about a nice book?" said Ron innocently.**

"**No, I don't think so," said Hermione composedly. "I really want an owl. I mean, Harry's got Hedwig and you've got Errol —"**

**"I haven't," said Ron. "Errol's a family owl. All I've got is Scabbers." He pulled his pet rat out of his pocket. "And I want to get him checked over," he added, placing Scabbers on the table in front of them. "I don't think Egypt agreed with him."**

And with that the trio paid for their ice cream and made their way to the Magical Menagerie.

One of the things that Hermione first noticed when she walked into the shop was that it was crowded. And smelly. Every inch of the wall had been jam-packed with cages, and the occupants of these cages were squawking and jabbering and hissing at anyone who dared walk by. When Ron and Harry went up to the counter to get Scabbers checked out she strayed away from them and went off on her own to find a pet of her own. She walked by the many cages but none of the animals seemed to catch her attention. When suddenly…

_SQUAWK!_

Hermione gasped and turned around quickly only to be staring at nothing.

_SQUAWK!_

There it was again! Having another idea, she looked up. And there it was: The Raven from Fortesque's.

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**Read and Review!**


	7. Chapter 3 and 994ths: ThreeweeksEarlier

**I don't own HP**

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**Chapter 3 and 99/4ths: Three Weeks Earlier**

"Alright, Bella. Are you ready?" Sirius asked his cousin. He saw her nod from across the cells. "Ready."

He inhaled deeply and let it put slowly. One and a seven-eighths years ago Sirius had offered to teach his cousin (whom he _still_ had doubts about) how to become an animagus. It was very difficult. First, since neither of them had wands, he had to get her to focus completely on her magic core that would allow her to tap into the magic necessary to perform a wandless transformation. The tapping in part was easy. The focusing? Not so much. The next part all had to do with them not getting caught by the guards. And then there was this one time when they got separated for a few weeks. When this happened, Sirius knew he'd have to re-teach Bella all over again. But today was the day; And a million things could go wrong.

They waited till the sun went down, when the guards would make their first nightly rounds. As the dementors glided closer and closer to where they were located, Sirius gave a swift nod which Bella copied.

It was time.

As the Guard neared, a _Squawk!_ing could be heard from one of the cells. Having no sense of sight and relying on its ability of emotion censoring, it could detect no human life inside the cell. It decided to open it to get a closer "look." When it did, a great, beautiful black raven swooped out and flew down the corridor, singing (or _Squawk!_ing if you prefer)what sounded like the first line to the Hogwarts school song.

That was the que.

As soon as the dementor exited the empty cell a dog started to bark in the one behind him. It turned and glided toward the cell. When it opened the door, a giant, black dog bounded out of it and raced after the raven. The dementor, sensing nothing there as well, shrugged (if dementors _could_ shrug, that is), and finished its rounds.

Meanwhile, the dog and the raven were trying to get past the outside guards. Just beyond those guards was a sea. And just beyond that sea there was a mainland. And just beyond that mainland was freedom.

_Freedom…_

The dog heard a soft _caw!_ from above him. The raven inclined her head ever so slightly as if to ask about proceeding with the next step of the plan. He gave a soft _woomf!_ and she flapped her wings I response. Letting out a roaring _CAWE!_ She spread out her wings and nosed dived towards the guards. They looked up and yelped in shock and horror as they tried to protect themselves from the raven's sharp beak.

The dog watched on in amusement at the poor guards and quietly padded past them and towards the door. Once he was out he gave another _WHOOMF!_ (This time it was a big one as you can probably tell by the capitalization) and the raven stopped her pecking to join him.

Together, by air and by land, they made their way toward the edge of the island and stopped: The vast expansion of water before them was threatening; and the ongoing, ever-present storm raging above them didn't help either. The dog looked up to the raven above him and almost swore he saw her grin.

She flapped out a little ways and then came back; almost as if she were taunting the giant dog. Being a proud creature he wasn't about to be shown up by a sky rat. So summoning up all his Gryffindor courage, the giant dog gave a running leap and landed in the water. It was freezing, like ice.

The air was no different. Having only flown about the expansion of her cage and never in the open the raven was overwhelmed by the changing wind currents and sudden douses of rain. She almost drowned.

The dog was faring no better. Keeping his head up above the water was a battle, and he was slowly losing. Every time he felt he was going to be swept away he repeated his mantra a little louder in his head: _Harry, Harry, Harry, Harry…_

After what felt like hours the raven noticed something ahead of her: The shore.

Eyes a gleam, she _Cawed!_ down to the dog.

But to her horror, he wasn't there.

Aghast she turned back against strong, harsh winds and sharp rain and started to scan the watery depths for a mangy coat, a wet nose, _anything, _when she was finally rewarded. Still struggling, his head barely keeping above the water, the raven swooped down towards him and gave a small tug to his fur. When he looked up she had only half a second to Squawk in the direction of the land before he went under again. When he came back up he looked at her and gave a bark. Taking this as understanding, she turned around once more towards the land.

When she got there she immediately started to search for a hiding place when she found a cave on the ridge just a little ways down from where she landed. As soon as she procured that no one was in there or sure to find them she went back to her original landing place and waited for her cousin. After a few slow, anxious minutes she finally saw his coat come up and land on the shore.

Landing down next to him she noticed he was dog tired (no pun intended) and unresponsive to the storm around them. After a few loud _CAWS!_ She was finally able to rouse him, get him up on his feet, and lead him to the cave.

When he came to the entry way, he stopped, and the raven came down beside him. Together, they transformed back into their human forms of Sirius Black and Bellatrix Lestrange.

Sirius was able to walk a few meters on his human legs before they gave in and he fell to the ground. Not soon after sleep overcame him.

Bella, too, was overcome with exhaustion. She managed to sit down on a rock inside the cave before her legs gave way. Her head was pounding. She dropped it into her hands and slid down against the rock as she went over that day's events.

And she laughed. A tiny, breathy, exhausted, disbelieving laugh.

"We did it, cousin," she whispered. "We're free."

And sleep claimed her as well.

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**PHEW! Two chapters in one night! Or morning...I dunno it's 5:30 AM here. I need to sleep. THe next chapter is going to be a continuation of the last one and then there's gonna be another Bella chapter and then Hermione's going back to Hogwarts! YAY! Speaking of going back to Hogwarts, who's heard of the Starkid SPACE Tour? I hear it's gonna be Totally Awesome! I might not get to go though b/c it's on a school day :/ It's times like these that just make you wanna drop out.**

**I'M KIDDING! STAY IN SCHOOL AND DON'T DO DRUGS IF YOU DO DRUGS YOU WILL DIE AND IF YOU DROP OUT OF SCHOOL YOU WILL SPEND THE REST OF YOUR LIFE LIVING IN YOUR PARENTS BASEMENT WORKING AT A JOB THE REQUIRES YOU TO SAY "WOULD YOU LIKE FRIES WITH THAT?"**

**so anyway, Read and Review, DON'T do drugs (I will go all Mama Umbridge on your $$ if you do!), stay in school, and Live Long and Prosper.**

**Humdinger out!**


	8. Chapter4: Back and Forth We Go! and My

**Chapter 4: Back and Forth We Go! and My Cat-Sense is Tingling!**

Once they had rested it was time to act.

In their animagus forms Bellatrix and Sirius began scoping the beach they made home on for clues about where they were. Their efforts were rewarded when Sirius found a sign near a road that said: WELCOME TO SCARBOROUGH! He barked to his cousin and together they went back to the cave.

"Scarborough. We're in Scarborough," he said when he transfigured back.

"I know I read the sign," Bella said rolling her eyes. "So, what's our plan?"

"What?"

"The plan. What do we do first?"

Sirius flushed. "Urm – well…you see…"

"You don't have a plan, do you?"

"To be honest I never thought we'd get this far."

"Great. Really super."

"Hey I got us out! Give me that much!"

"Whatever."

Sirius sighed. "Alright, let's begin with what we know."

"We know we're in Scarborough."

"Yes. What else?"

"We're wandless."

"We'll think of something later."

"You smell like wet dog."

"HEY! That doesn't count!"

"That's it."

"Really?"

"Yep," she replied popping the 'P.' "Now what do we do?"

"Now cousin, we pool our knowledge and make a plan."

"Starting with…?"

"What do we need to do first?"

"Find a good dog shampoo."

"…."

"Sorry, but you really do smell."

"What _else_ do we need to do?"

"Find our kids."

"Exactly. Do you remember where Hugo's brother lives?"

"Bit foggy, but yeah."

"Excellent! We'll go to his house, explain everything, clear our names and spend the rest of our lives in happily ever after with the ones we hold dear forever and ever amen."

"Except for a couple things."

"Like what?"

"One, no wands; Two, we're in prison garb; Three, How do you think two muggles are going to react when two magical beings suddenly show up in their Coventry neighborhood looking like deranged murderers; and Four, you still smell."

"Mood killer."

"Well what about Potter? You're his godfather surely you must know where he is."

"Surrey. He lives with his muggle aunt and uncle."

"Huh. Weird."

"What's weird?"

"Both of our kids live with their non-magical aunt and uncle."

"They'd also be about the same year at Hogwarts, yeah?"

"When was he born? 1980? Yeah, Calliope was born not soon after the cutoff so they'd be in the same year."

"Odd."

"Yeah."

"Anyway, we have to figure this out."

"Right. Hey!"

"What?"

"What if, instead of going to their houses together, we meet up somewhere?"

"Like where?"

"The Leaky Cauldron?"

Sirius snorted. "Bella, like you keep pointing out, we're convicts. Someone will recognize us."

"Not if we're in our animagus forms."

"But we'll be in a wizard place."

"And?"

"And I know something will go wrong."

"And?"

"And we'll be caught."

"And?"

"Bella-"

"And?"

"STOP IT!"

"Sorry. Got hung up."

"And anyway, we can't stay in our animagus forms for too long."

"Why not?"

"I explained this to you when we first started training, remember? Our joints will get messed up and make us stiff."

"I'm willing to take that risk."

"There's no guarantee that we'll both get there."

"Ok."

"If I get caught I'm selling you out."

"If I get caught it was all your idea."

"Bella..."

"Sirius?"

He got up and started pacing. He didn't like the idea (obviously), but they would cover more ground, and he was in a rush to see Harry.

But what if they did get caught? He didn't just break out of the most inescapable prisons in the world and cross a thunderous plaguing sea just to get thrown back to square one. It was a huge risk.

But then again, what was life without a few risks?

"Fine. Let's do it." She grinned.

"Look out world: Here we come!"

**~O~O~**

It was raining when Bellatrix first arrived on the street. _How Poetic,_ she thought.

After three days of flapping, resting, nesting, and narrowly avoiding a man in a chicken suit (don't ask), She was there.

Tired from her journey she flew down into a dark alleyway and transfigured out of the raven form. AS she sat down against the wall she took long, steady breaths. Being anxious about seeing your long-lost daughter and still not used to flying sure made one feel ill. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine what she would look like. She used to do this often in Azkaban, thinking she'd never see her again, but now the reality of the situation sank in and honestly, she was terrified.

Bellatrix Druella Black Lestrange was terrified out of her mind.

_You can do this, you can do this,_ she repeated over and over in her head as she transformed and flew out.

She circled the entire house before settling on a branch near an upstairs window. The fact that it was still raining did nothing to calm her nerves; all it did was make the branch more slippery and think of what might happen if she fell. _Would I transform back? Would she see me? Would her "Parents" turn me in? What would she say? What would she do? What would she-?_

Then her heart stopped.

There she was in the window, even prettier than she was when she was a baby. Bella was happy to see that Calliope had retained her father's brown eyes that she had had as a baby, but was a little less pleased to see that she still had the same unruly hair. Someone was in the room with her though, _who was it? A man? SHE IS WAAAAAY TO YOUNG TO BE DATING BOYS YOUNG-! Oh, it's Mark._

Sure enough, in the room talking to his "Daughter" was the same man she had given her up to all those years ago.

She was smiling, laughing by the looks of it. He must of said something funny. _She has a beautiful smile,_ Bella thought._ If only she didn't have my teeth!_

She was nodding now, agreeing to something most likely. Bella flapped towards the window some more to get a better look at the room. Mark had left the room and now Calliope was on her bed, reading. Or was she-?

_Is she doing homework? On summer holidays? She's a Ravenclaw alright._

Bella shifted her body on the branch to gaze some more around the room. To the right there was a desk, on the wall above it there was a calendar, on the calendar the days were crossed out up until August 23rd. _Must be today's date. Good to know._ Above the calendar was a picture tacked to the wall of her, a ginger boy, and…

_Is that-? No. It can't be! _She peered in closer to see it and noticed a scarf hanging above it.

Bellatrix did a double-take. That red and gold scarf couldn't possibly be red and gold. _Could it?_

She closed her eyes and opened them again. Still red and gold. Still Gryffindor. _Oh why not Hufflepuff?_

At that moment thunder and lightning struck behind her so loudly she let out a tremendous _SQUAWK!_

She turned her head towards the direction of the clouds, cursing them as best she could in Raven-Tongue, and turned around. She froze entirely, and not because of the rain.

Calliope was looking right at her. _Right in the eyes._

Bellatrix could only stare back when Calliope got off the bed to get a closer look. As she came up the window Bella could make put more of her features: Her button nose, the sprinkling of freckles on it and her cheeks, how tan she looked, the adorable curious expression.

She couldn't take it anymore.

Just before she took off she glanced one last time in those hazel nut orbs. The ones she loved years before.

When she got back to the alleyway she transformed back into Bellatrix and pressed her back up against the wall. Her cheeks were wet, but it had nothing to do with rain as she slid down the wall.

As the thunder cracked once more across the sky, Bellatrix; cold, wet, and heart-jerked; began to sob.

**~O~O~**

Bella stayed in the alley for a few days, scared to go out and lose it again. The weather had gotten better, thank Merlin, but she did not move. After a long internal struggle with herself she realized she had to suck it up and do it. She was a Black after all. What did they fear? Nothing. She was going to go back.

So, transforming back into Avi (she decided her animagus needed a name), she flew back up to the branch by the window and peered in. The girl was in the room again. If ravens could cry Bellatrix was sure she would've teared up by now, but keeping her breathing steady and her sharp eyes focused on the room she willed herself to keep looking.

Something shiny caught her eye. That was one of the disadvantages of being a raven animagus; shiny things always played tricks on you. This time, however, it seemed to help her for you see, above the shiny was the calendar. On the calendar was a circled date. And in that circled date were six _very_ helpful words: _Meet Harry & Ron Leaky._

If Bella were human she could have sung! She almost did so in her animagus form but stopped because it would attract attention.

She focused her eyes in closer to get the date.

_August 31__st__._ She focused her eyes on the closest un-crossed off date. _August 25__th__._

Six days. She had six days to get to London.

Six days to find her cousin.

Six days to see her daughter again.

And Six days till she unknowingly unraveled the life of Hermione Granger.

**~O~O~**

Bellatrix _REALLY_ hated being a bird.

She was forced to sleep in drafty, dark places(The dark she didn't mind), Practically had to shove bugs down her throat (The crunchy ones were alright, It was the slimy ones that made her gag), and she had to do her...her…_shookum_ (yech!) in other peoples' backyards. She wondered how her cousin was faring.

Probably better than her.

It was now August 30th, late at night. She had managed to fly over the Leaky…and then slam into the magical barrier that surrounded Diagon Alley. If it were a cartoon (She'd heard her cousin talking about them before) it would have been pretty hysterical to the person watching. Well, at least until Bella turned her wand on them. Now she was stuck.

That was, until a delivery truck pulled up the next morning.

Already Bella had a pretty good idea in her mind. It was all a matter of whether or not it worked. As two stocky wizards unloaded the truck she waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And-_NOW!_

She swooped down and barely made it through the crack of the door when the wizard closed it behind him. Slightly off balance from her narrow entrance she landed in the rafters to gain her bearings and cheer in silent triumph. Trying to remain undetected she hopped from rafter to rafter making her way to the back door, the entrance to Diagon Alley. But after a long night, she slowly fell to sleep.

She woke up around 8 to the hustle and bustle of the Leaky getting ready for the day. Wizards were engaging in conversation with other wizards, witches were gossiping about who did what with who and the He said/She said, and families arriving to get stuff for Hogwarts; The latest of which happened to be a large red-headed family that-

_Wait a minute. Red heads…_Bella's mind went back to the picture in Calliope's room of her, Harry Potter, and a ginger boy and the calendar that hung below it._ Could this family…?_

"Ron!" She heard someone shout from across the room. Her head whipped sideways so fast she almost snapped her little birdy neck. It was Calliope. She was hugging the ginger (_Note to self, keep eyes on the ginger at ALL times)_ and talking to him, and then two other red-heads (_his parents?)_ came over to join them. She heard her daughter laugh. It was the best sound she'd heard in a long time. Then she was walking_ (Where are you going?)_ with the ginger_ (Mark! Jean! What are you doing? Follow that boy!) _up the stairs to where the rooms were located _(If he tries anything so help me Merlin…!)._

She almost followed them and would've if she wasn't a wanted person and wearing a slightly cleaner prison outfit. Then they came back down (_oh thank Merlin!)_ and talked with the parents some more. Then Calliope's parents left and the two of them went back upstairs again _(Damn)._

**~O~O~**

She spent the rest of the day following Calliope and her ginger friend _(what was his name? Robert? Rupert? Rogue? Ricky? Ronald? Ron? Nah!) _around Diagon Alley. Apparently, her daughter was studious like a Ravenclaw **(see chapter 2; how much time they spent at F&B)**, but had enough bravery to be put into Gryffindor. She also apparently detested quidditch. Right now she and the Ginger Friend were sitting at Fortesque's, eating chocolate raspberry ice cream cones _(It's her favorite too?)_.

Then the shop door banged especially hard and she _Squawked!_ quite loud. The Ginger Friend noticed her first.

"Just a bloody bird," He said. _EXCUSE YOU!_

Calliope shot him a look. "Don't use that language, _Ronald_." (_HA! I KNEW IT!_) "And it's not just any bird; That's a raven." Bella grinned inwardly.

"Pretty ugly if you ask me." The smile was replaced with a scowl._ Freckle-faced Git._

"Well I think it's gorgeous." Bella's heart swelled. Her daughter thought she was pretty!

She didn't notice the curious gaze Hermione gave her though, before the raven haired boy from the picture came over. _Is this Potter?_

They were laughing, talking (_He BLEW UP his aunt?)_, and-_ A shop?_

That was it. They were going to the Menagerie. The Magical pet store. _THAT'S IT!_

With a sure-fire gleam in her eyes Bellatrix flew off toward the shop and landed on the the door opened she flew in and landed near a cage.

A cat cage. _DAMN!_

The cat was sniffing her, looking at her curiously._ Oh no you don't. I am NO ONE'S snack!_

It was a ratty ginger thing, with a squashed pig face. _Like the boy from the photo, _she thought snarkily.

_You're not a bird,_ someone breathed into her ear. She jumped and looked around startled. _Just here,_ It said again. Bella slowly turned her head, hoping she was wrong. She wasn't.

The cat was talking to her. The scraggly, ginger, squashed-faced cat was talking to her.

_I've lost my marbles,_ She thought aloud.

_Have You?_ the cat asked back.

_SQUAWK!_ She squealed.

_Do I know You? You don't smell like a bird. You don't sound like a bird._

_And You don't look very much like a cat!_ She snapped.

The cat gave her a look of fuzzy scorn. _I can still eat you, you know._

She snorted, then the shop door openedand she tensed up. _She's here!_

_Who's here?_ She heard the cat ask.

_My daughter, _she replied.

_If she's your daughter, why don't you go meet her?_

This sent pangs of guilt through Bella's heart. _I can't,_ she said,_ I'd be in trouble if I did._

_Why?_

_Have you seen those posters around the ally of the two escaped convicts?_

_Yeah, but what does-oh….Oh…OOOHHHH! You're one of them?_ She nodded.

_Then why are you here?_

_I overheard her talking to her friends about getting a pet for Hogwarts this year-_

_Wait. You were SPYING on her? Oh that's just plain rude._ She glared at him.

_ANYWAY, I was hoping that by seeing me she'd choose me as her pet and take me with her to school so that I can reveal myself to her, explain what happened, clear my name, and live a happy free life with my daughter._

_Sounds Difficult._

_Oh, it is._

_Perhaps…I might be able to help you?_

Bellatrix narrowed her golden eyes at the cat. _How?_

_Well, ravens aren't usually sold to Hogwarts students. Actually, They aren't sold at all in this store._

_Oh, _If a raven could look sheepish Bella was doing a pretty good job of it.

_Yeah. But, cats are the second most popular animal sold after owls._

Bellatrix let this settle for a moment. _What are you saying cat?_ She asked knowing exactly what he was getting at.

_I'm saying, If I can get bought by this human of yours, I can spy on her __**inside**__ of Hogwarts._

_WHAT? And what of me and My dog? How are you going to spy on her and report to us if you cannot reach us?_

_You two escaped Az-People-Go-In-No-One-Comes-Out-kaban, which is protected by the scum of the earth dementors. I'm sure You can manage breaking into a children's school._

_Perhaps; Except Hogwarts has something Azkaban doesn't have._

_And what's that?_

_Albus Dumbledore._

_Ooh. Yeah I forgot about him. But hey, He's your problem to deal with. After all I'm just and innocent kitty cat._

Bella scoffed.

The cat rolled his eyes and focused on something else. _Hey hey; She's coming over here._

Bella whipped her little bird neck around so fast it almost snapped. There she was… Her beautiful Calliope. She could feel the cat's eyes on her.

_Well lady, Do we have a deal?_

Bella thought it over.

_You swear you'll look out for her._

_On my honor._

_You'll stay by her side?_

_Always._

_And Forever?_

_Until I die or may my tail be chopped up and put in a soup._

Bella Sighed impatiently through her nose. _Very well._

The cat gave a very Cheshire grin._ Anything I need to know?_

_She has brown hair; bushy. Usually hangs out with Harry Potter and some Ginger kid. OH! And beware: There is another like me and my friend; He is a rat, pure and simple, but he doesn't…"smell" like a rat. Go you get it?_

_Got it. What should we do?_

Bella thought for a moment,_ What if we cause a distraction?_

_Like what?_

She spotted the Ginger kid and grinned._ Jump on top of the Ginger kid?_ *Call me ugly, will you?*

_You got it, Princess._

_Don't call me Princess, Mangy._

_It's Crookshanks._

_Gesundheit._

_No, that's my name._

_Oh. _

_See you at Hogwarts, Princes,_ He grinned.

_Don't call me Princess! _She squawked.

It was then she heard a surprised gasp behind her. She turned to see big, curious eyes looking at her.

Hugo's eyes.

**~O~O~**

**Happy 11/11/11!**


	9. ChapterFlashback:Nightmares&OtherProblem

**Ok, First off, I don't own HP. At all. Secondly, Happy Holidays to the people of Earth during this fine season. Does anybody who's read this FanFiction celebrate Kwanzaa? I know someone who celebrates Hannukah and I celebrate Christmas, but I don't know anyone who celebrates Kwanzaa. I think it's be pretty cool to know someone who celebrates Kwanzaa.*Thinking face***

**Anyways, ****Read on, Review, and See the request I've made at the bottom of the page.**

* * *

**Chapter Flashback: Nightmares & OtherProblem**

_Her heart was pounding in her chest. She couldn't believe it. She could barely breathe. Cracks were still going up in the air as Aurors and Death Eaters alike disapparated away. The fight had ended in a stalemate, but to Bella, her world was crashing down before her eyes._

_**I never got the chance to tell him…**_

**~O~O~**

_About a month later Rodolphus was out and Bella had her head in the toilet. Again._

_It was all she could do to not totally lose it there on the bathroom floor _**(Her mind, not her lunch (Ok, maybe a little of both))**_. _

_Weakly getting off the bathroom floor, she made her way downstairs to the sitting room fireplace. Calming herself down a bit, she took a handful of floo powder off the Mantle and threw it in the fire. Almost instantly a head appeared._

"_What is it Bella?" The blonde man asked._

"_Get my sister."_

_He rolled his eyes. "She can't come to the floo right now, but I'll tell her you called…"_

"_Get. My. Sister." and she took out her wand for insurance._

_Lucius sighed and walked away. A moment later, another blonde head appeared, bit this time a female's._

"_What is it Bella?"_

_She had to say it quick because her eyes were filling with tears again and she knew Lucius was listening in. "Can—can you come over?" Her voice cracked._

_Narcissa blinked in surprise and her voice softened, "Sure Bella. I'll be right there." And then she was gone._

_Bellatrix stepped back from the fire and soon enough Narcissa, Tall, fair, and beautiful, emerged from the flames._

_Narcissa dusted some of the ash from her cloak and turned to her sister, eyes filled with concern as she took in her sister's abnormally pale, sickly looking complexion. "Bella? What's wrong?"_

_That did it. Bella opened and closed her mouth, trying to find the right words, when she just couldn't prolong it anymore and began to sob. Narcissa, being startled by her sisters total breakdown, was quick on the uptake and embraced her sister quickly and firmly, making calming and soothing "shh"-ing sounds in her ear._

**~O~O~**

_Ten minutes later both sisters were lying on the bed in the master bedroom._

_Narcissa could remember several times when she was younger when she would be all out of sorts and Bella would comfort her, but she could never remember returning the favor. It had taken her quite a while to get Bella calmed down, but now that they were both settled she decided that she would delicately try to ask what in Merlin's name had gotten Bella so upset._

"_Bella, What's wrong?" she calmly asked._

_She noticed her sister take several calming breaths and screw her brow in thought before she replied in a whisper, "I'm pregnant."_

_It took all of Narcissa's will power not to squeal in delight and laugh uncontrollably. So instead she settled for a smile before enthusiastically saying, "But Bella, this is a good thing! A VERY good thing!"_

_Bellatrix closed her eyes in pain before shaking her head. "No, Cissy, it's not."_

_The smile faded from Narcissa's face as a look of confusion came on. "I...I don't understand. Why isn't this good? I mean, you're going to have a baby! An heir! You'll be mother, I'll be an aunt, and the Black name will go on! This is good! This is very good and why are you still shaking your head 'no'?"_

_Bella's voice came out strained, "Rodolphus won't be happy."_

"_But of course he will! I know recently you two have had your fights, but maybe this is the right shove off into a better, stronger relationsh-"_

"_The child is not his, Cissy."_

_Narcissa's mind drew a blank and her eyes bulged out of their sockets in shock. When her mind finally came back to her, she said the first thing that came up: "WTF?"_**(ok, so she said the ACTUAL word, but I don't like using that word, so we're going to use the abbreviation, K? In fact, let's rename it, "**_**What the Fladoodle?**_**") **

_Bella looked up at her, anger and tears filling her eyes. "You know, I asked you to come here for support, not for blatant, outright 'WTF _**(Again, "**_**What the Fladoodle?")**__.'"_

_Narcissa mentally slapped herself repeatedly and flushed a deep red. "I'm sorry, you're absolutely right. Forgive me." When she felt Bella relax again, she tentatively asked the most important question._

"_Bellatrix, who __**is**__ the father?"_

_Eyes widening, lungs not breathing, and nerves nervous, Bellatrix got up immediately off the bed and began to pace. This worried Cissy. _

"_Bella?" she didn't respond. "Bella, look at me." She stopped pacing. Narcissa got off the bed and came over to her, placing a hand on her arm. Her sister's breathing was erratic, and she was shaking all over._

"_Bellatrix you're scaring me. Who?" This time she replied._

"_You're going to hate me." She said shakily._

"_You're my sister!" she admonished. "Who was it? Another Death Eater?" one head shake no._

"_Rabastian?" again, No._

_A Horrible thought struck her. "The Dark Lord?"_

_She shook her head harder, "No," she whispered._

"_Tell me," she pleaded._

"_I…I had an…an affair, Cissy."_

"_Oh Bella…"_

"_We... We met at a pub, in Hogsmeade. He…he had interesting views on our world and…he…he intrigued me."_

"_When?" she asked, finding her voice._

"_A year...Two years ago."_

"_But…if you met him that long ago, how did…"_

"_I uh, I saw him again, actually, two months ago when I was on that mission for the Dark Lord. Same Tavern and everything."_

"_So…He's…?"_

"_Yes. He's the father."_

"_What's his name?"_

_She gave a ghostly, mirthless chuckle. "That's the part you're gonna hate me for."_

_It dawned on her. "He's not a pureblood, is he?"_

"_No."_

"_What's his name?"_

"_Cissy…"_

"_What's his name, Bella?" she pressed._

_Bellatrix sighed. "Hugo. Hugo Granger."_

_Narcissa's mind whizzed around her knowledge of all wizarding families for that name. She recalled none. "Bellatrix, there are no Half-Blood wizards with that last name."_

"_Try again."_

_Bellatrix had her head down the entire time, and it was a good thing too, so that she wouldn't see her sister's even more horrified expression. "A muggle-born?" she whispered._

_Bellatrix nodded. She looked up to see her sister slowly back away from her. "Narcissa…" she pleaded. The blonde beauty shook her head. "Narcissa!"_

"_Don't, Bellatrix. Just…Don't."_

_All of Bella's worst fears were slowly coming to light. If her sister backed out on her, she'd be totally alone._

"_Please…Cissy…"_

"_Don't you Cissy Me!" She snapped. "Bellatrix Druella Black You are a—A-!"_

"_Cissy Please! I-I need your help!"_

"_Just like Andromeda needed yours?"_

"_Cissy!"_

"_What was it you told her? Oh I remember: YOU BLOOD-TRATOROUS WHORE!"_

"_CISSY! PLEASE!"Bella shouted, but by then Narcissa was already out of that room, heading back downstairs to the fireplace._

"_Cissa-Narcissa! Wait! PLEASE! Wait!" She chased after her and caught her arm._

"_LET GO OF ME!"_

"_CISSY PLEASE!"_

"_YOU B-_**(insert naughty word that rhymes with witch)**_! YOU REJECTED OUR OWN SISTER BECAUSE SHE LOVED SOMEONE AGAINST OUR BELIEFS! AND NOW YOU GO AND GET YOURSELF KNOCKED UP WITH THE BASTARDOUS CHILD OF A MUDBLOOD!"_

"_DON'T USE THAT WORD!"_

"_WILL YOU LISTEN TO YOURSELF? YOU STARTING TO SOUND LIKE ONE OF __**THEM!**__" _

"_WE BOTH KNOW ROLDOLPHUS ISN'T FAITHFUL! I SURE AS HELL WASN'T GOING TO TRY TO BE! I FELL IN LOVE WITH HIM! __**ME! **__**BELLATRIX BLACK! **__DAUGHTER OF PUREBLOOD BIGOTS I FELL IN LOVE WITH A MUGGLE-BORN!"_

"_IF YOU LOVE HIM SO MUCH WHY DON'T YOU GO TO HIM FOR HELP!"_

"_BECAUSE HE'S DEAD!"_

_There was a ringing silence throughout the house after the screaming match._

"_What?" Narcissa asked sharply._

_Feeling light-headed from the shouting, Bella sunk down on the stairs and started to breath unevenly._

"_Bella?" Narcissa said sternly._

"_He's…He's dead. We ran into him and-the death eaters I mean- and there was this…battle and he…he…" she broke off._

_Narcissa walked over to her. "Who killed him?"_

"_Dolohov," she spat._

_Narcissa nodded. "I see." She was conflicted. On one hand was her beliefs, everything she stood for. She already denied one older sister for her wayward thinking and actions, why not deny the second? On the other hand, she had never seen her strong, stubborn, brave older sister this scared before. It was kind of frightening altogether. But what kind of sister would she seem like, refusing one sister because of her situation and help another who is also in the same situation?_

"_Cissy?" Bellatrix brought her out of her thoughts._

"_I…I need time, Bellatrix. To think. To understand." She saw her sister visibly deflate at her answer. Bella nodded, "Alright."_

"_Alright." And with that Narcissa made her way once again to the parlor to Floo out when…_

"_Cissy! WAIT!"_

_Sighing annoyed, She answered, "Yes?"_

_Bella came up to her. "You can't tell anyone. Not Carrow, not Rosier, not Lucius-ESPECIALLY not Lucius-"_

"_I wasn't going to say anything."_

_Bella took a few steps back. "Oh. Ok…"_

_Narcissa lit a fire and took a hand of Floo powder. She turned back to her sister._

"_I will come back." and then she was gone._

Bellatrix woke with a start, almost falling off the rafter she was perched in for the night. It was dreams like this that kept her awake at all hours in Azkaban. Why she only dared to dream when she could handle it. It would seem like a soap opera _(Whatever that was)_ to an ordinary person. To Bella, it was one of her worst memories. Narcissa was literally the only one she trusted with the secret of her daughter's true paternity, but after that moment Narcissa was no longer as warm and affectionate like she used to be. She sometimes wondered if her sister thought of her, thought of her secret. But to Bella it was just another nightmare.

**~O~O~**

However, it wasn't just Bella who was having nightmares that night…

_It was dark again. Just dark. It unnerved her. Sure, sometimes there were visions and images; But most often there was nothing but darkness. And sound. Lots of sound. Sometimes it was garbled. Sometimes it was specific. _

_Like a crowing. Or laughter. Most times there was quite a bit of shouting. But she didn't know who._

_Like tonight. Screaming. Anguished screams. Crying. She wanted to help. She wanted to do something. And suddenly, it wasn't dark anymore._

_She was in a maze; a big, spindly, criss-crossing maze that was impossible to navigate. She tried going towards the screams but each time she ended up in a dead end. _

_**What was that?**_

_Someone was calling her name. It sounded close, desperate, wanting. __**Longing.**_

"_**Where are you?" **__she cries. _

_She turns a corner and out of nowhere a giant snake with yellow eyes appears and she can barely move. Somehow, by some divine force, she's able to run, run, run fast and far away from the terrible beast. She tries again, hearing a rustle in the bushes. Poor girl. She's run into the troll for the third time that evening, each time becoming more and more difficult to get away._

_She hears it again. A name. Her name. Like a whisper._

"_**Where are you?" **__she yells again. __**"I don't know where you are!"**_

_Then it hits her like a ton of bricks. A feeling. A very strong feeling. She starts to run. Left. Right. Left. Right. Right. Straight. TURN!_

_She turns into another dead end. But this time it's filled with people. People she knows. Her friends, but at the same time not; Nightmarish creatures with warped smiles and funny eyes. They're laughing. Jeering. Teasing. At her. All at her. Her breath turns shallow and she backs away, preparing to run, all the way around when a raven with bright golden eyes flies right at her. _

"_**HERMIONE!" **__It shrieks._

Hermione Granger awoke in a cold sweat to the sun coming in through the window of hers and Ginny's room. She hears talking but is still reeling from her nightmare. She finally heard what Ginny is saying.

"Hermione come on, Get up! We have to be ready to leave by 10!" she said.

Hermione makes herself nod and slowly gets up, but still plagued by the mysterious dream. She had had the maze one before. That one had showed her all her fears. The screaming wasn't toocommon. Though it was becoming more frequent. _The Raven though…_

She shook her head and started to pick out her outfit she would wear tp the Platform. _That bird has no signifigance,_ She thought to herself.

After all, she was just being paranoid.

**~O~O~**

* * *

**AN: remember at the beginning of the Chapter I said I'd make a request? Well, Here it is:**

**Has anyone out there head of a site called devientart? They have some really talented artists who are ordinary kids just like a majority of us are. Anyways, the drawings for Harry Potter are extremely well done and it's got me thinking.**

**Here's what I am requesting: If you want to, I would like to see your drawing skills. Specifically HP. **

**Here's how it's going to work: If you're interested, PM me here with what you are going to draw. When you do so, I will give you my e-mail address. When you've finished drawing it, attach the photo to an e-mail and send it to me. I will then take your phot and post it to my tumblr http: / theworksofshumdinger .tumblr .com/ (p.s.: Follow Me?)and give you all the credit.**

**Now here are the rules:**

1. Must be PG (i.e. No nudity, sex, or language except for "Bloody Hell!" or "NOT MY DAUGHTER YOU B*TCH!")

2. Must be HP related (i.e. a Wand, A character, the sorting hat)

3. Can be Something AVPM/S related (i.e. Scarfy, Ron holding Redvines, Unbridge)

4. B E ~C R E A T I V E!

5. No one will be excluded; all art work submitted will be posted.

**And one more thing, would anybody be willing to draw maybe a picture or cover for the story? That would be the BombDotCom.**

**So anyway, in conclusion, Read, Review, TELL ME IF YOU CELEBRATE KWANZAA!(Or any other holiday), and think about the challenge I have issued.**

**Happy Holidays!**

**~~S. Humdinger.**


	10. Chapter5:Dementors,Deceptions,&Desserts

**Chapter 5: Dementors, Deceptions, and Desserts, OH MY!**

Standing on the platform, Bellatrix Lestrange was anxiously waiting for a glimpse of her daughter before she left on the train. Well, It wasn't Bellatrix exactly: It was Bellatrix disguised as a muggle with blonde hair, green eyes, and a slender body under the pseudonym of Regina Featherwing who was seeing off her niece if anyone asked.

The train started to move out of the station when a big black dog snuffed next to her. She rolled her eyes at her ridiculous cousin and turned on her heels to walk out off the platform. He padded along quickly to catch up with her. A little too quickly, as he bumped into Bellatrix's legs, tripping her up and knocking her into another parent.

"I beg your pardon," She muttered quickly.

"It's quite alright," said a voice that was all too familiar.

Freezing in her tracks, she slowly turned back to look at her baby sister, who was no longer a baby, a mere five steps away from her. She took in the sight of her sister, feeding off of the familiar face. Surely she could just go up and make small talk, perhaps? Just to hear that voice and to know it was going to be alright. Sirius seemed to sense what she was about to do, as he grabbed hold of her shirt sleeve and gave it a tug, indicating they should go. So Bellatrix, now down trodden, made her way toward the barrier and out into the normal King's Cross station, Sirius at her heels.

When they were out of the station and in a shady alley, Bella took off the enchantments and sat down while Sirius transformed back into his human self, giving Bella a stern look.

She glanced up at him from her spot, "Stop it."

He was quiet for a while. And then, "You can't do what I know you were about to do. If you had, you might've slipped up and gave us away."

"I know."

"We're close, Bellatrix. In a few weeks, maybe even days, we could be inside Hogwarts' Gates"

"**I know.**"

"She's your sister, I get that. If that were James or Remus I would've wanted to make myself known to them as well. But we're not 'normal' people, no matter how much we try to disguise ourselves."

"**I KNOW, **Sirius."

She wouldn't look up at him, but her knew she was blinking back tears that were threatening to fall. He sighed and nodded. "Well, we better change then. Before someone find us." He helped her up off the ground and changed back into the raven and the dog.

**~O~O~**

The train ride to Hogwarts was uneventful, as always. Well…_almost_ uneventful.

It started out the usual trip, Harry telling them about the latest threat on his life, Ron bickering with Hermione (This time about her cat), the Trolley Lady with her cart of goodies, Malfoy coming by to pick a fight. With the exception of the newest DADA teacher asleep in the compartment with them, everything had been relatively normal. Until the train started to slowdown outside of Hogwarts.

Ron had been going on about how he couldn't wait for the feast when the lights in the compartment went off. Then the door opened and Neville fell in on top of Harry and Crookshanks. Hermione got up to ask the conductor what was going on but when she opened the door Ginny fell in on top of her in a heap. It was when she almost sat on Harry and Neville that Professor Remus Lupin decided to wake up. He conjured up some flames and told the others to wait where they were when the compartment door opened a third time. This time, it was no person nor animal that poked their head into the car, no.

It was a dementor.

For a split second nobody spoke. Nobody moved.

Then it got colder. And colder. Hermione started to remember every bad memory and experience she ever had.

_Her grandmother died when she was eight….Her best friend changed personalities over night and moved when she was six…Her mother was crying over her when she was no more than a baby…_

And then Harry started to have a fit. She snapped out of it and she and Ron tried to break him from it. He came out of it and asked who was screaming. This confused them all because no one was screaming. Professor Lupin handed him some chocolate with instructions to eat it. Hermione fiddled with her locket as the train started to move again. She didn't know why, but something about the bad memories was off; like they weren't hers. Professor Lupin came back in and explained what they'd just seen and why they were on board the train. Apparently, they were looking for Black and Lestrange.

This did absolutely nothing to assuage the fears of the teenage occupants in the car.

Harry was a bit upset that he was the only one that had fainted, though Ginny looked as if she had come quite close to it. Nobody said much for the remainder of the journey, and when they got to the school Professor McGonagall pulled him and, surprisingly, Hermione aside to pull them into her asked them if they were alright and Madame Pomfrey bustled in soon after to check on Harry, who was a bit annoyed by the attention. After repeatedly saying he was fine, McGonagall asked him to wait outside while she had a word with Hermione. When Harry went out, She reached into one of her desk drawers and pulled out what looked like a little hour glass on a golden chain.

"Congratulations, Miss Granger, the ministry had approved your use of a time-turner for your course-load this year."

Hermione's eyes bugged out of her skull and her mouth dropped open in surprise, "Really?"

Professor McGonagall nodded and gave her a thin, sagely smile. "Now I expect you to remember the rules, yes? No using it for personal gain, You must arrive on time, be wary of when you use it and who you use it around…" Hermione nodded to all of this. "And if it gets to be too much, come see me and we can discuss what classes you need to drop, understood?"

Hermione nodded earnestly again. "Yes. Thank you Professor!"

And with that she joined Harry in the corridor and together they went back to the feast, a big smile on her face.

She and Harry settled down at the table as the sorting ended and Dumbledore got up to make his speech. He made the usual announcements (No magic in the corridors, do your best, see Filch for a list of restricted items), warned them of the dementors and of the missing convicts (because they _**Obviously**_ hadn't heard about it already), and introduced two new teachers: Professor Lupin, to take over DADA, and to everyone's surprise Hagrid, who would be taking over Care of Magical Creatures. He got a round of applause – the biggest of the cheering from Gryffindor. They settled into the feast and finished it off with pudding, Hermione's favorite.

It wasn't until she was in her bed settled that night when Hermione finally realized why her memories were off:

The woman in her infant years was _not_ her mother.

**~O~O~**

* * *

**I figured since it was the fic's birthday, I better update it. I got caught up in Summer Laziness and Doctor Who fandom xP**

**Oh well. Read and Review(please?) as you wish :)**

**Also, if anyone out there who reads this has any advice to offer in handling a 100 pound, one-year-old, Mastiff/Labrador mix dog with playful biting/jumping/scratching problems, it would be very much appreciated. **


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